Truly Monstrous Luck [OLD VERSION, NO LONGER UPDATING]

Things are Getting Better

After half an hour or so of sitting alone in the dark, I decide to go out and explore some more. I put my journal in my backpack and fish out my binder, taking off my shirt quickly to slip it on over my head before throwing the shirt back on. I decide to leave my bag here, lock my room behind me and walk as quietly as I can down the hall of rooms. There are a few other people milling about, most walking the opposite direction, most of them giving me odd looks as I pass by. I keep my head down and let my feet carry me through the winding corridors.

Eventually I find myself back in the greenhouse, moonlight spilling in through the glass ceiling, shifting and shimmering through a layer of water blocking this place from the rest of the world - is this Turtle Pond? Or some other body of water?

The butterflies are all asleep, but now lightning bugs populate the air. They hover in the air effortlessly, tiny stars filling the great big space of the greenhouse. They start to float around me as I walk in and take a spot over by a pond full of lily pads and lotus blossoms. I sit there for a few minutes, examining the greenery floating on the water, when I hear a voice behind me say, "Damn, I'm usually the only one in here this early."

I jump several feet to the side, turning to see who just spoke. A girl with moss in her hair and piercing orange eyes stands in the doorway. She walks over to me, and I see that her feet are bare and covered in vines and greenery, decked out in dirt covered overalls and a light blue t-shirt. She studies my face for a moment, crouching down so we're eye to eye. My breathing is shaky and erratic as I try my best to calm myself down and slow my heart rate down. Her eyes narrow as she takes in all of the details of my face. I chew on my lower lip nervously, hoping to ground myself a little more. After looking at my face for about 10 seconds, her eyes wander down towards my neck and land on the bite mark imprinted in my skin. As soon as I register this, my hand flies up to cover the mark as her eyes widen.

"You're a new vampire." She remarks. "Been almost a year since we've had one of you here."

I give a shaky nod and slowly uncover the bite mark again, sitting up straight as she backs away. "I've had a really bad 24 hours." I mutter as I begin to fidget, hitting the heels of my hands together. "Being in here has made me feel a lot better. I was in here earlier and I ended up getting covered in butterflies."

She gives a slow nod. "Well, if the insects all like you this much, I guess I can trust you." She reaches out a hand, "my name is Calla. Resident dryad."

I grab her hand, which is rough and covered in calluses. "I'm Victor."

"Well, Victor, do you have any interest in magic?"

"Magic?" I echo, and all of the air is suddenly pulled from my lungs. "What... what kind?"

"Depends on where you get your magic from." She responds. "You seem to have a real affinity for nature, have you ever had any interest in druidic magics?"

"C-can I even... channel nature magic? I'm not... alive anymore." I ask, fidgeting getting slowly worse. "Do you need to be alive to use life magic?"

She thinks about it for a moment, shifting to a sitting position. "I don't think so. I've never met a druidic vampire, but you seem to have a strong connection with this place."

I manage to largely control the fidgeting, but my eyes wander to the lightning bugs floating in the air. "I think... I'd like that."

"Great!" She smiles, "You probably have stuff going on today, being new and all, but I'm here most nights if you want to talk."

I give her a thumbs up, then get up and start to walk around looking at all of the different planter boxes.

As morning light starts creeping through the glass ceiling, an hour or so after the lightning bugs have settled back into their hiding places, and Calla has located herself up at the top of a cherry tree and is currently browsing her phone, Arthur ducks his head in through the doorway.